An Introduction to Thermal Physics
Daniel V. Schroeder
Department of Physics
Weber State University
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News
New publisher! I am delighted to announce that An Introduction to Thermal Physics is now (as of late 2020) published by Oxford University Press. It is available in hardcover (ISBN 978–0–19–289554–7), paperback (ISBN 978–0–19–289555–4), and ebook (see below) formats.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people at Addison Wesley Longman (AWL), especially my editor Sami Iwata, who helped make the book such a success during its early years. However, times have changed. AWL is now part of Pearson, and Pearson, like other major commercial textbook publishers, is gradually becoming more of a software company, focusing on online educational materials for mass-market courses. Although Pearson continued to publish An Introduction to Thermal Physics and never threatened to take it out of print, I became unhappy with the book’s declining print quality, the abridged and defective international editions, the discontinuation of most marketing efforts, and the upward creep of the book’s price, above the level that our original contract permitted. On the other hand, I am grateful that Pearson immediately agreed to return the book’s rights to me upon request.
In today’s publishing landscape, Oxford University Press (OUP) is a much better home for the book. As a nonprofit department of the University of Oxford, OUP is far more stable than a commercial publisher and has pledged to maintain high quality at a fair price. As of early 2026, the retail list price for the paperback version is just $54.00 in the U.S. and £41.49 in the U.K., with significantly lower prices available through some online retailers.
Except for about three dozen new page corrections, the OUP reissue is identical in content to the pre-2020 hardcover Pearson version.
If you would prefer an electronic version of the book, I recommend eBooks.com, which sells an encrypted pdf version that is faithful to the original formatting. I do not recommend the Amazon Kindle version of the book, which not only butchers the formatting but also introduces numerous typographical errors. I am not aware of any authorized, non-encrypted pdf versions of the book. If you find a site that offers such a version, either free or at a price, it is probably illegal. There’s also a good chance that it is an older version, predating the many page corrections.
Used copies of the old Pearson version of the book may be available through third-party sellers. I would just caution readers to avoid Pearson’s abridged international editions of the book, which are typically missing Chapter 8, Appendices A and B, the Preface, Suggested Reading, and Index. A further defect is that all references to chapter numbers have been removed throughout these editions, making some cross-chapter references unclear. If you’re purchasing the book online and unsure of which version is being offered, please check the page count and/or the ISBN. The unabridged Pearson hardcover version has 422 pages and ISBN 0-201-38027-7 (or ISBN-13 978-0-201-38027-9). The abridged and defective versions are significantly shorter, roughly 330 pages. One of these is the “New International Edition”, ISBN 978-1292026213, with a brown and gray cover. Another abridged version, intended for the market in southern Asia, has ISBN 978-9332535077 and a picture of a sailboat on the cover. International editions published before 2014 are not abridged or defective (as far as I know), although some have poor print quality.
A complete, 344-page solution manual, for instructors only, is available through this web form. However, using the solution manual defeats the whole purpose of doing physics and nobody (including instructors) should ever actually look at it. Printed copies of the manual are no longer available. The solution manual is copyrighted, and posting or downloading unauthorized copies is illegal.
A complete collection of the book’s figures and tables is posted here. These are provided mostly for the convenience of instructors who wish to incorporate them into class presentation slides. Please honor the copyright notice and do not redistribute them.
Last modified on 24 January 2026.